Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has charged entertainer Bill Cosby with aggravated indecent assault. The news out of Pennsylvania marks an apt ending to 2015, which has been a trying year for Cosby after dozens of drugging and assault allegations surfaced. This is the first criminal charge Cosby has received and he is expected to be arraigned this afternoon.
In 2004, Andrea Constand claims that Bill Cosby drugged and violated her in his home. According to the police report, Constand says that she complained about being stressed and Cosby offered her three blue pills. As she got dizzy, he began “touching her breast and placing her hand on his penis.” When her complaint was filed, the DA at the time, Bruce Castor, declined the charges because he said the two would be seen in “a less than flattering light.” Cosby, however, claimed that it was consensual. In 2006, the lawsuit was settled confidentially. This summer, the case was reopened in lieu of the other women who came forward after Hannibal Burress acknowledged Cosby’s past in his stand-up routine. The charges in Constand’s case were announced just as the 12-year statute of limitations was set to run out in a few days. But what does this mean for Cosby’s other accusers?
Just a couple of weeks ago, Cosby filed lawsuits against seven of the women who accused him of sexual assault citing their accusations as, “malicious, opportunistic, and false and defamatory.” One thing is for sure, this impending trial has all the makings of a made for Hollywood story, so for those still reconciling how the 78-year old got to this point, we’ll continue to watch this story unfold.